How to Organize Your Research

Everyone has been taught different ways on organizing research (if they have been trained in it at all!), so it is always important to find the trick that works for you. Here are some "analog" or "Old School" ways, as well as some electronic ideas for keeping your research notes accessible to write your papers.

Here is an overview on how to take notes on Academic Sources:

https://www.thoughtco.com/tips-for-taking-notes-from-your-reading-1686432

ELECTRONIC AND PAPERLESS OPTIONS

You can use Evernote. The program includes a tagging system which is really great if you need to search through your records. Here is a link about how to set this up: https://www.thecafescholar.com/use-evernote-organize-research/

You can use Mendeley: This program allows you to upload pdfs and then annotate them (if they are not protected). Some people find this extremely helpful. https://www.mendeley.com/?interaction_required=true

Zotero is another alternative to Mendeley and can link to Dropbox. https://www.zotero.org/

You can use Scrivener: This is not a free program, but it has similar capabilities as the analog technique I use below. https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener/overview

My "Old School" Way (I learned this in 8th grade)

First, I create a notecard for each source and assign it a letter of the alphabet. So The Book of Margery Kempe translated by Anthony Bale would get a letter A.

Next, as I read the source, I take each note on a notecard. In the top right corner, I put the letter of the Source and number the notecard. So A-5, would be the fifth notecard I wrote from The Book of Margery Kempe. That way, I know when I am missing card. I also make sure to ALWAYS put the page number of the research note in the bottom right corner of the card.

I go back and read through my notecards when I am done with a source and put blue stickies which include my thoughts or notes on why the source matter and possible links to other cards. I also write the subject of the note at the top of each card (this is how I later create my outline). Excessive, I know, but oddly it works for me where nothing else did.

Here's a link where someone else wrote up the entire process:

https://researchersgateway.com/research-notes/